Working for women's equality and ordination in the Catholic Church: 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. Galatians 3.28

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW)'s first international conference was held in Ottawa 2005. See here for full archives and photographs of the conference. WOW - working for the legal ordination of women and inclusion of women in all realms of leadership in the Roman Catholic Church Ordain women - WOW!

Women Reject Attempts to Silence Discussion on OrdinationWhy is the church so afraid of us?

OTTAWA - July 14 - Local committee organizers of the WOW conference are saddened by the negative remarks of Archbishop Marcel Gervais and other local clergy denouncing the upcoming WOW Conference to be held at Carleton University, July 22-24 and forbidding Catholics to talk about women’s ordination.

“The hierarchy’s attempt to shut down any discussion on women priests is a reaction that does not manifest confidence in their arguments,” says Marie Bouclin, spokesperson for WOW. “It’s too bad they don’t take this as an opportunity to celebrate the great contribution of women in all the churches. The Catholic priesthood,” she adds, “would have so much to gain from women’s leadership and experience.”

A recent article in the Ottawa Citizen contained a statement from a member of the clergy to the effect that because men can’t have babies then women can’t be Fathers in the Church. “To build the theology of priesthood around this level of argument is quite pathetic,” says Virginia Lafond of the WOW hosting committee. “We would love to have the clergy come to the conference, listen to our highly qualified speakers, and celebrate our unity as women and men, equal members of the one Body of Christ.”

Several women priests from other denominations will participate in the WOW conference. 420 men and women from several continents have registered so far.

Women's Ordination Worldwide

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is a dynamic international umbrella network working for women's ordination in the Roman Catholic Church. WOW's founding principal is equality.

'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. Galatians 3.28

Founded in 1996 at the First European Women's Synod in Austria, Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is an ecumenical network of national and international groups whose primary mission at this time is the admission of Roman Catholic women to all ordained ministries.